HOMILY FOR FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. Time and time again, the liturgy and the Scriptures bring us back to the mystery of love that stands at the heart of Christianity. On this feast of the Holy Family that follows the gift of God’s love at Christmas, given in the form of a vulnerable child, what I would like to reflect on is the truth that love needs to be protected. If we didn’t live in a fallen world, then protecting love wouldn’t be necessary. But in our fallen world, love does need to be protected – beginning with the presence of Christ within ourselves and going out from there to protect the most vulnerable in our society. When Jesus asked us to ‘love one another as I have loved you’, he didn’t just mean a sentimental or romantic love. He also meant a love that is worth fighting for, living for, dying for and protecting each other as an expression of that love.

The Gospel today from Matthew, tells the story of Joseph being directed to escape to Egypt because the life of the infant Jesus was in danger because of the cruel jealously of the evil Herod. Herod was succeeded by his son Archelaus who was no better and, being warned again, Joseph took his family to the safety of Nazareth where he could provide a safe home for them.

Notice how, from the very beginning, the life and the kingdom of Jesus Christ was violently opposed. When we gaze at the crib, we can get stuck in a sentimental and romantic notion of what the first Christmas was like. The truth is that from the minute of his birth, Jesus’ life was in danger.

Friends, because of our faith and baptism, we have been gifted with the life of God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. It is an awesome gift but also a fragile one. It is a powerful love and unique love, but a love that needs to be protected. Because if it isn’t, then its light will begin to fade. That’s why God has left us through the Church, the gift of prayer, his Word, the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation to protect, heal and strengthen the life of Christ within us and among us. So let us never be complacent about the life of Christ within us. Protect it from evil, distractions and false gods that are ready to attack and take the place of God, if we allow them to. That is why Jesus asked us to pray: ‘Deliver us from evil’ at the end of the Our Father. He knew the love he came to give us needed protection, then as it does now.

The second point that flows from today's feast is the need to protect children. Marriage was institutionalized in the first place as a measure to protect children’s rights and safe-guard against their harm. The Church is often accused of overly rigid rules around marriage and sexuality. But they are there for good reason, namely, to protect what we consider to be most valuable – the importance of family and the link between family and the welfare of children.

Again, we must never take our eyes off this moral obligation to protect children, as Joseph protected Jesus from harm.

Here we think of fathers, mothers and guardians whose first duty is to ensure that vulnerable children are protected and grow up in safe environments. We think of community and Church personnel who dedicate themselves to safe-guarding as we continue to learn from the awful mistakes of the past. We also think of those children who are most vulnerable in our society to neglect, poverty, abuse and cruelty. And how can we not think of children who are at risk of abortion and who have no legal protection any more against decisions that would end their existence.

The final group of vulnerable people who need protection are the elderly. They are mentioned in the First Reading today where the vulnerabilities of the elderly are named: ‘Support you father and mother in their old age…Even if their minds should fail, show them sympathy; do not despise them in your health and strength’.

The wisdom of this reading speaks powerfully to us today of the value and dignity of elderly people. In the culture in which we live, when the push for assisted suicide is unceasing, to declare the value and dignity of elderly people is not enough. They need to be protected. Loving them means protecting them. This is what love demands in these times.

Friends, today’s Feast of the Holy Family inspires us with Joseph’s example to protect the gift of love we have received – to protect the life of Christ within us by committing ourselves to holiness; to protect the children of our families, communities and parishes, born and unborn. Finally, to protect the lives of the elderly that are increasingly under threat and devalued.

Love is not an airy-fairy notion. It needs to be embodied by living it and protecting it as expression of love itself. May the Holy Family inspire us to defend and protect what we vale most of all.